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Microbiology graduate, medical doctor, others win 2014 Ships & Ports Essay Competition

L-R: Winner, 8th Ships & Ports Annual National Essay Competition,
Ojo Taiye; representative of the Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Shippers’
Council, Rebecca Adamu; representative of Controller, Apapa Area Command of the
Nigeria Customs Service, Deputy Comptroller Umar Garba; Head, Corporate Affairs
and Marketing of Sifax Group, Oliver Omajuwa and representative of Managing
Director, Dangote Port Operations, Salami Bayo at the prize presentation
ceremony of the 8th Ships & Ports Annual National Essay Competition in
Apapa, Lagos.


Maritime
media firm, Ships & Ports Communication Company on Tuesday announced the
winners of the 8th edition of its annual National Essay Competition.

At
the official prize presentation ceremony held at Etal Hotel in Apapa, Lagos, a
Delta State-based graduate of Microbiology, Ojo Taiye was announced as the
winner of the 2014 essay competition carting away N100,000 cash Best Overall
Prize donated by Dangote Port Operation.
Other
winners include Kenneth Okpomo who won the Sifax Group Prize for Creativity,
and an Owerri-based medical doctor, Anyanwu Munachimno, won the Nigerian
Shippers Council Prize for Best Researched Essay.
Okafor
Emmanuel, Okoroegbe Fidelis, Bankole Emmanuel, Ilogu Evans and Ngozi Akhimieho
all won the Comptroller Charles Edike Prize for Outstanding Essay while
Secretary of the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, Barr.
Uzamot Boye and former Editor, Ships & Ports Newspaper, Mr. Obiajulu Agu
both clinched the special recognition award. Gifts were also presented to some
of the participants in a lucky dip.
The
theme of this year’s essay competition is “How should government and
stakeholders address the Apapa gridlock”.
The
best overall prize winner, Taiye who participated in the competition for the
first time, said: “I am surprised to have won the Best Overall Essay and this
will encourage me to write more.
I
have written essays for other bodies but this is the first time I am
participating in a port related essay. At the initial stage, I did not want to
come because I felt it was just to come and sit down but I said since they have
given me the recognition by calling me from Delta to come, I decided to come
down to Lagos.
“The
policy that the government and stakeholders’ should postulate is to relocate
the petroleum tank farms along the port. The truck owners are not only the
cause of the problem because there is no parking bay for trucks, the security
agencies are also collecting bribe. If you don’t provide those facilities where
do you expect the trucks to park?”
Earlier
in his welcome address, Chief Executive Officer of Ships & Ports, Mr.
Bolaji Akinola lamented the devastating effect the Apapa traffic gridlock is
having on the economy and on the health of commuters.
While
congratulating all the participants in the 2014 essay competition, Akinola
assured that their intellectual contribution would go a long way in addressing
the various challenges confronting the maritime sector.
“There
has been a lot of complacency and procrastination on the part of the concerned
authorities. The economic effect of the gridlock on business activities and the
health impact should ginger government to action and I believe that the various
recommendations that have been made will serve as a wakeup call to all,” he
said.
He
said entries for the competition this year were received from 21 states of the
federation.
The
prize presentation ceremony was attended by the participants and
representatives of Dangote Port Operation, Sifax Group, Nigerian Shippers’
Council and the Apapa Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service.
Chairman,
Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Chief Remi Ogungbemi, former
National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA),
Alhaji Inua Mohammed and Managing Director of Micura Stevedoring Services, Mr.
Michael Ubogu, also attended the event. 
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